The Grizzly Prize

Due to time pressure, this year’s jury was a bit of scramble, after Burton Cummings had to drop out. I had to eliminate former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray, who insisted that the award go to Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell. Mitchell is dead and his choice smacked of regionalism. So I have prevailed upon my mother, Olive Jackson, to serve on the jury. At ninety-four, she is an eclectic reader, favouring books with large type and not too heavy to hold. Type size, font, and number of pages are important criteria overlooked by other book competitions.

Our second jury member this fall is Ronnie Nyms, former editor of Tack: The Journal for Horsebreeders. Mr. Nyms is the author of a self-published novella, Bland House, set in East End, Saskatchewan. It is a portrait of a rural family destroyed by the new international tariffs on flaxseed. The third jury member is Sass Jordan, a Canadian Idol judge, who was available.

I’ve encouraged our jury to avoid books that are too long, too complicated, or too sad. In this way, we hope not to overlap with the nominees of The Scotiabank Giller Prize. I understand that one of this year’s Giller-nominated novels, The Time In Between by David Bergen, is rather sad. Another short listed title is Alligator by Lisa Moore. Giving a Grizzly to a book called Alligator just doesn’t sound right. Luck by Joan Barfoot sounds like a title deliberately calculated to win a prize, so that one’s out. Camilla Gibb’s Sweetness in the Belly happens in Ethiopia and sounds complicated. As for A Wall of Light by Edeet Ravel—well, the title makes no sense.

I’m tired of realism, too. Last year’s Giller winner, Runaway by Alice Munro, had a tendency to be rather unpredictable and “realistic.” “Like life,” some reviewers sniffed. So much fiction these days describes unpleasant things that happen to people as a result of greed, pride, and bad judgment. Must everything be sad?

One really has to be up to snuff to read such books. But not all readers are up to snuff! Some would prefer a mediocre, ill-thought-out book, with a patina of respectability bestowed on it by a prize. Of course, our existing prizes have often recognized these qualities. But this is the sort of book The Grizzly will strive to honour. So, remember, if you’re over eighteen and you can touch type, you’re already on our long list! Come out to Sizzzlers in January and celebrate books that anyone can write!